Oh Ho Ho Ho and how we laughed..
Somebody un-nameable posted a reply to my earlier 4 part saga stating that it wasn't really karma because all the things I wrote about showed karma working for me. Given that part 4 of my (mini) saga explained how after being a twunt for some years I crashed a motorbike and ended up paralyzed for life (which some people would argue clearly shows karma working against me) I decided that some truly top drawer kosmic karmic retribution was in order. So I sent them a message that pointed out they where, in fact, a grade A twat. And then went to bed.
***that pointed out** or **which pointed out** Anyone?
(godisdove I like cheese, Sun 24 Feb 2008, 23:51, 5 replies)

Microsoft Word
Always tells me to use "which,"
Which, is usually stupidly wrong.
I think which is probably more correct in this sense, though I believe either is acceptable.
(joepublic 's opinion does not represent that of the public, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 0:00, closed)

"that"
"which" is chavvy. It's a more specific word and has unnecessary associations in the context above. "That" is the simple, elegant and more correct choice.
(lost, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 13:34, closed)

...
someone posts that you were not referring to karma in your posts so you send them a tacky message......and you call that cosmic karma????

That's not karma. That's being a prick.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Tue 26 Feb 2008, 2:56, closed)

It's not down to being chavvy
It's whether the clause needs to be restrictive or non-restrictive. "That" is restrictive, "which" is non-restrictive.

To quote: "A restrictive clause is one that limits, or restricts, the scope of the noun it is referring to."

In this case, "that" limits the message to the type that calls him a twat. If you used "which", the sentence would look like this;

"So I sent them a message, which pointed out they were, in fact, a grade A twat."

This implies that calling him a twat is only a by-the-by fact about the message.

So in this particular case, it depends; is the "calling him a twat" element an important part of the nature of the message (that), or an unimportant part of it that doesn't really define the message, but merely helps identify it as seperate from other messages (which)?

It's very subtle, and I'm not really sure I understand it properly myself.

It's important sometimes, though;

"The cars that are red should park here." = some of the cars being spoken of are red, they should park here.

"The cars, which are red, should park here." = ALL of the cars being spoken of are red, they should park here.
(Musuko, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 13:32, closed)

Sheesh
The message I was sent was not only tacky but also disproportionately full of rage. Which tactic just made me feel indifferent to the whole furore that godisdove seems to be trying to whip up.

In short: >shrug<
(entry_level_adultette, Wed 27 Feb 2008, 17:36, closed)